A Visual Journal of the City of Bandung and Its Vicinities.
A photo a day with insightful and informative commentaries from the capital city of West Java and one of the most fascinating cities in Indonesia.®

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Photo caption: A beverage seller parking his cart on the sidewalk on Jalan Wastukencana blocking the safe passage of pedestrians. This is just an example of the many hazards that pedestrians must face in Bandung.

Bandung is not a pedestrian-friendly city. It's very shameful. Unfortunately, the government has not done much to improve the situation.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

This is the front facade of Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Bandung (BDO).

Husein Sastranegara is a very small international airport, one of the smallest in Indonesia. However, it is also a very busy airport, one of the busiest in the country for airports located in the provincial capital. The airport currently handles about 1.3 million passengers per year carried by 13 commercial airlines connecting Bandung directly with some major cities in Indonesia and two cities in southeast Asia, i.e. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It is also an important airport because it is the nearest airport from Jakarta, the nation's capital.

Husein Sastranegara currently only has one terminal that is used both for domestic and international passengers. With the number of passengers it is handling, it is very crowded most of the time.

The airport was built by the Dutch in early 1920s to replace the previous airfield at Sukamiskin. The new airport was named Andir for the name of the area it was built. The current name -- Husein Sastranegara -- is taken from the name of a local aviation Independence War hero.

The Andir Airport in Bandung was one of the airports/airfields on which Amelia Earhart stopped by on her famous flight around the world. She landed here on June 25, 1937 and continued her journey eastward the next day.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Jagung bakar (grilled corn) together with ketan bakar is a popular 'street snack' among locals as well as visitors to the town of Lembang.

Lembang is a district about 12 kilometers to the north of the city of Bandung. It is popular among visitors because of its higher altitude and cooler air, its mountainous scenery, and its vegetable and flower farms. Many people like to go here on weekends just to hang out, enjoy its fresh cool air, shop for vegetables and fruits, and eat jagung bakar, ketan bakar, and various other foods on the road side stalls.

Grilled corn may be the same everywhere, but on a cool night mountain air outdoor and among friends, it can be quite an experience.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

According to this military blogger, Indonesia was the first country outside the United States that operates the C-130. It received 10 of it in 1958. Currently the Indonesian Air Force has 25 units of C-130 in operation.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Alteration artisans are quite easy to find in markets and places that sell ready-made or ready-to-wear apparels in this city. They work fast too. You can wait while your apparels are being altered or mended.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

A shopper walking on Cihampelas street, oblivious to the danger she was in.

Jalan Cihampelas (Cihampelas Street) is a popular and important tourist destination in Bandung for its shopping attractions. Ironically, however, this street has no pedestrian walk. Worse still, the city's government does not seem to care and has not done much to improve the situation. Pedestrians are left to their own defense when it comes to their safety. It's very embarrassing.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Sunset near Stasiun Gadobangkong (Gadobangkong railway station) in Cimareme area in the west of Bandung.

The double track you see in this picture connect Bandung and Jakarta. Only until recently, there used to be paddy fields here. Now they are gone and have been replaced by a housing complex called the Amani.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Photo caption: Varieties of mini cacti for sale at a nursery in Lembang in the north of Bandung.

Cacti (cactus or cactuses), which are native to the Americas, are cultivated in Indonesia as decorative plants. In Bandung, cacti are cultivated and cross-bred mainly in nurseries in Lembang, a small agrarian town and tourist resort some 12 kilometers to the north of city.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Photo caption: A fresh red paprika(capsicum anuum) in a garden in the north of Bandung.

Bandung is an important producer of paprika in the country. The plant is mainly cultivated in green houses in the village of Pasirlangu in Cisarua, West Bandung Regency. The ones you see in these pictures are from a garden owned by a friend of mine.

Currently he is cultivating the red and yellow varieties. The produce are mainly sold in the local and Jakarta markets. With the expansion of the farm he is currently undertaking, he says he will soon produce enough for to be able to export the produce to Malaysia and Singapore.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

This billboard with a picture of the President handing over a tree to the Mayor can be seen in several places in the city. The writing on it says "No Day Without Tree Planting".

The billboard is part of the nation's wider campaign for Planting 1 Billion Trees Movement (called OBIT -- One Billion Indonesian Trees) which began in 2006.

The movement, which becomes part of Indonesia's commitment to curbing global warming, is commemorated every year on November 28. This year, the President launched the tree-planting-month-of-December campaign to speed up the achievement of 1 billion tree target and to encourage every citizen to take part in the movement.